D: Susan Siedelman
Rank/Orion (Jonathan Brett & Susan
Siedelman)
US 1989
99 mins
Comedy
W: Barry Strugatz & Mark R. Burns [based on the
novel "The Life & Loves Of A She-Devil" by Fay Weldon]
DP: Oliver Stapleton
Ed: Craig McKay
Mus: Howard Shore
Rosanne Barr (Ruth Patchett), Meryl Streep (Mary
Fisher), Ed Begley, Jr. (Bob Patchett), Sylvia Miles (Mrs. Fisher), Linda Hunt (Hooper)
Unpleasantly mean-spirited black comedy in which ugly
housewife Roseanne Barr plans a strategically measured revenge plot against her adulterous husband and the romance novelist he cheated with.
There's no protagonist here. Both Roseanne Barr &
Meryl Streep's characters are both unpleasant as each other, while Ed Begley, Jr's weak character can only best be described as weaselly.
For women's lib, feminism and equality it attempts to
make a statement, but this sour comedy perhaps works best as a novel.
5/10